How to Turn Your Expertise Into Profits

I was recently chatting with someone I met in a mastermind we are both a part of.

This person sells high ticket consulting and is an expert in the area he operates in. Now he wants to sell his expertise to a bigger audience by packaging it into different forms.

If you are a consultant or a freelancer who is an expert in your chosen industry, then you can use this same approach to package your expertise for profits.

I suggested going with a 90-day goal approach followed quarter-on-quarter.

Q1 [1st 90 days] Build a showcase for your expertise

The text is good to start. Aim for about 30k before you launch your brand site. Get this ready in your pre-launch period (45-90 days). This should be high-quality content. Instead of 30 posts of 1000 words each, aim for 5-7 mega content pieces of 5000-7000 words each. Why? Because Google links length to authority. But don’t add fluff and pad your writing for reaching a certain word count. It should be easy to read and understand so that users will stay on your site.

This is the ‘fill it, shut it and forget it’ approach. If your content is ready before you launch you can focus on distribution and promoting your content later, without worrying about creating content.

Towards the end of this period, create a free course that you’ll use in Q2 for lead generation. It can be in text form or videos (based on the text you wrote).

Q2 [91-180 days] Create a paid lead system

You’ll find it tough to build a sustainable business with something to sell and a process to generate leads. Referrals work fine to grow a business but it is tough to scale this channel. To take care of lead gen, use the free course you created earlier.

I launched a free course for professionals who wanted to learn digital marketing for my digital marketing training startup. Through this, we were able to build an email list of more than 13,000 people in less than 2 months.

You can run online ads to promote your course and generate leads.

Q3 [Next 181-270 days] Launch beta version of paid course 

Before you go and teach an online course, find a group of 5-10 people and teach them the same things 1-on-1. Use the insights to improve your course further. Make sure that this small group is getting value.

Convert this into a short course. Sell this beta version to gather user feedback and testimonials. Offer benefits to those who join. Limit the number of beta group members to 10-20. Once you have run this for the first group, fine-tuned it further.

Towards the end of this quarter, launch a 90-day version of this course to the bigger audience you’ve gathered through your online ads.

Q4 [Next 271-360 days] Make those who took your course successful

Focus these 90 days to create the best experience for everyone who enrolled in your course. Be there for them, to answer their queries and guide them as they implement the ideas you shared. During the 2nd month of this 90 day period, launch a small workshop to test your ideas in front of a live idea. Aim to get 10 people in a room. Charge them, a quarter of what you’ll eventually charge for such a workshop. 

Q5 [Next 90 days] Create the funnel for your major workshop

A good speaking funnel for consultants start with a free workshop (online), then move to paid (low cost) in-person event, and then onboard people for a year-long high ticket, high-value engagement, with an online and in-person component.

You can also start by launching a lightweight version of your public workshop. Price low enough to get 50-100 people in a room. Make sure that you cover the cost and keep a buffer on top of it. Sell a more exclusive engagement to those who attend. It is ok to price it 10-20x of workshop price and onboard 10 people at one go.

Public speaking is beast if you like it. Sean D’Souza, New Zealand based marketer sold his first knowledge bundle in a conference he was speaking at He sold it as a CD. This was the genesis of his legendary and fulfilling career which now allows him to take a 3-months break every year.

Q6 [Next 90 days] Create the first draft of your book

Get the recording of your workshops and exclusive small group engagement transcribed. Combine this your 30k words earlier and create an outline plus the basic draft of your book. Once you put it together start editing it with the goal of a launch time of 12-18 months from the day you start working on it.

By the end of it all, you would have converted your knowledge to multiple revenue streams and become widely known. All it takes is a planned approach and some effort. The good news is that it does not stop here. It just gets better.

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